Peppa Pig owner could fetch more diced up 17 Aug 2016 Entertainment One may be in the sights of private equity firm KKR as well as ITV. If the pig cartoon’s owner needs other ways to keep investors happy, it has options. Spinning off the maturing film division and a U.S. listing could add up to 50 percent to its market value.
Contrary smoke signals bedevil Brexit firefighting 17 Aug 2016 An unexpected drop in the number of people claiming jobless benefit jars with other, grimmer survey data. Monetary policy has already been eased to manage any post-vote slowdown and a fiscal stimulus is likely. Clashing signals make it harder for policymakers to target such help.
Unilever finds new ways to banish grubbiness 16 Aug 2016 The consumer goods giant is buying Blueair, a posh Swedish air purifier that is big in China and Japan. It follows a $1 billion purchase of subscription service Dollar Shave Club. On one hand, both are strategic shifts; on the other, they’re just creative takes on cleanliness.
Finance’s new plumbing better safe than efficient 16 Aug 2016 Regulators are mulling how to sort out clearing houses that hit the skids. It’s complex, but ultimately about whether preventing a collapse is better than fixing one. Given their vital role, a copper-bottomed system that hands regulators discretion makes most sense.
BHP Billiton reaches earnings nadir 16 Aug 2016 A ray of light is appearing for the mining giant. Weak global demand and a Brazilian dam disaster were partly to blame for a record $6.4 bln full-year net loss but the worst has passed. As long as prices stabilise, cost-cutting will allow BHP to return more cash to shareholders.
Handelsbanken harsh streak hints at racier future 16 Aug 2016 The Swedish lender fired boss Frank Vang-Jensen after just 18 months following an alleged power grab. Handelsbanken has sector-topping returns and was teacher's pet in Europe's stress tests. A new plan to grow abroad implies over-centralisation wasn't the ex-CEO's sole failing.
Bond market exuberance hangs on UK vagaries 16 Aug 2016 Gilts’ turbo-charged surge is lifting other debt markets in its wake. Global investors care deeply about wrinkles that might help or hinder UK bonds. High on this list is how easily the Bank of England can buy long-dated gilts as part of its asset purchase programme.
UK fracking revolution calls for national thinking 12 Aug 2016 Handouts to disgruntled communities and tax breaks are unlikely to make shale gas extraction more appealing for investors, given the shaky outlook for prices. A better strategy could be to create a national drilling titan in the mould of Norway's Statoil to get Britain fracking.
Peppa Pig could find her fortune stateside 12 Aug 2016 Entertainment One, owner of the cartoon swine, could be attractive to American suitors after spurning ITV's low-ball 1 billion pound proposal. Amazon and HBO are keen to lard up on content. Higher valuations for similar U.S.-listed peers also offer a potential line of defence.
Mortgage race could scramble UK banks’ nest-eggs 12 Aug 2016 Nationwide's net interest margin fell over 25 basis points in a year, due to increased mortgage competition. UK banks - including Nationwide - have enough capital to cope. If demand for cheap mortgages intensifies, though, banks could end up less profitable and more risky.
M&A activist twist suits almost everyone 11 Aug 2016 Activist hedge fund Elliott won a bump in value on two agreed deals - for brewer SABMiller and UK retailer Poundland. Both results are good for shareholders in the targets, and not too bad for the bidders. It should, though, provoke a subtle shift in how deals get done.
William Hill could turn tables with tilt at Rank 11 Aug 2016 The UK bookie has spurned a joint offer by 888 and Rank despite potential pre-tax cost savings of 100 mln stg. The pair might snare William Hill by giving it half the company and piling on debt, but 888 could end up worse-off. Or the hunted could turn hunter with a bet on Rank.
Prudential’s Brexit-padding does the job 10 Aug 2016 The UK-based insurer beat forecasts in the first half, helped by the fact 70 pct of operating profit comes from outside the EU. But its UK asset manager is doing worse than peers, and low rates hit it too. Pru still looks reasonably diversified, just not so well balanced.
ITV can pay more for a slice of Peppa Pig 10 Aug 2016 Canada's Entertainment One rejected a 1 billion pound approach from ITV, an 8.5 percent premium on its closing share price. The Peppa Pig owner is well positioned for the shift towards digital content. And ponying up more would help ITV to diversify away from the UK.
William Hill triple merger not quite win-win-win 9 Aug 2016 A joint 3 bln pound-plus offer from rivals 888 and Rank was rebuffed by the UK gaming group. What it might offer in synergies is undermined by complexity. If the merger logic is so compelling, maybe 888 and Rank ought to start with a simpler twosome.
L&G goes from golden child to whipping boy 9 Aug 2016 The UK insurer’s first-half earnings rose, but shares sank. Its core insurance business was weak, but other areas like “bulk annuities” should ride to the rescue. After the financial crisis, investors fell in love with L&G. Since the Brexit referendum, they are cooling.
Big banks’ stranglehold on UK loosened by a finger 9 Aug 2016 British lenders give customers poor service, but a two-year competition probe has offered few remedies. Caps on overdraft charges could cost the largest banks 1.2 bln pounds a year. But trustbusters have done little to improve all-important small business lending.
Hammond and Carney play discordant UK bond duet 9 Aug 2016 British finance minister Philip Hammond will have to sell more gilts as the economy slows. The Bank of England is buying. But markets are increasingly tuning out rate-setters’ interventions. Extra supply could mean central bank boss Mark Carney has to raise the volume.
China overplays its hand in UK nuclear debate 9 Aug 2016 Making the $24 bln Hinkley reactors an acid test of mutual trust is unwise. The Sino-British relationship is already tilted in China's favour, so Beijing has little to retaliate with if the UK scraps the project. Conversely, forcing it to go ahead could prove a pyrrhic victory.
Cheap wind energy can deal final blow to Hinkley 8 Aug 2016 Electricity from offshore wind farms costs a third less than in 2013. It now undercuts power costs at the two new nuclear reactors planned in the UK. With prices falling further and low project risk, the case for pulling the plug on the Hinkley Point plant is building.